Holding rack for elongated articles



Dec. 25, 1951 .1. SHEPARD HOLDING RACK FOR ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed June27, 1946 Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,579,519HOLDING RACK FOR ELONGATED ARTICLES Josiah Shepard, Chevy Chase, Md.

Application June 27, 1946, Serial No. 679,743 1 Claim. (01. 211-69) Thisinvention relates to a holding rack for the convenient and secureretention of pens, pencils, crayons and other elongated articles whichare used by draftsmen, architects, artists and school children.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a holding rack forpens, pencils and the like, which is economical and rugged inconstruction and which is capable of wide distribution and use at 'a lowcost, to provide an excellent advertising medium addressed to those whouse a multiplicity of pens, pencils and the like, drafting or otherinstruments, dental tools, drills and. other elongated articles.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a rack forelongated articles which is adapted to rest upon a supporting surfacewith a high degree of frictional drag so that the rack does not slideeasily along the surface and remains in the place where it is originallyset. At the same time, the rack provides a stable support for theindividual elongated articles which are disposed in parallelism thereonin clear view of the operator so that the selection of the desired onecan be made with rapidity and accuracy in view of the segregateddisposition of the individual items upon the rack above the level of thesupporting surface whereby they are rendered easy to pick up and laydown.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a rack which may beformed entirely of sheet material of flexible, rigid or semi-rigidcharacteristics, or which alternatively may be formed in part of solidrests for the elongated articles. In the former case, the racks lendthemselves to stacking capabilities for compact shipment and storage.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a rack which may bestamped out of sheet material in an economical manner with minimumwaste. When white material is used for pencil or crayon racks ofdifferent colors, the individual rests of the rack may be identifiedwith the different colors to designate the proper location of therespective crayons or pencils.

' Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention the rack in itsfully loaded position is capable of convenient lifting and carryingwithout disturbing the distribution of the elongated articles thereon sothat the same may be put in a drawer and returned to the point of use atany desired time with rapidity and dispatch.

The invention proceeds upon the principle of providing a rackconstituted of a pair of parallel triangularlkshaped prismatic elementsspaced laterally from each other and which are spanned by a base memberadapted to be disposed in contact with the supporting surface on whichthe rack is placed. A plurality of notches are cut in the apex along thelength of each prismatic element transversely thereof with the notchesin each element in alignment with the corresponding notches in theadjacent element for the purpose of providing secure rests for theelongated articles which are bridged across the two prismatic elements.When the rack is formed of sheet material such as cardboard orpressboard, the base, in conjunction with the upstanding gable elementsformed on each side thereof, provides sufficient frictional drag on thetable on which the rack is disposed to maintain the rack in set positionso that the artisan may at all times find the rack with theinstrumentalities thereon in the position in which the same is placedoriginally, without occasioning any temporary loss of the instrumentsresulting from rolling or displacement thereof amongst papers or otheritems with which the operator may be working at the time.

The device is of particular utility for draftsmen working on an inclinedboard in which case the difiiculties arising from rolling pens andpencils are always present. If desirable, the base of the rack may beprovided with apertures for the purpose of aifixing the rack permanentlyto any desired part or" the drafting board.

Other objects and purposes will appear from the detailed description ofthe invention following hereinafter, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the rackin accordance with, the present invention as used on a drafting board;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view along line d-@ of Fig. 2;

. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view along line 'l-? of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the economies accruing from the stampingout of the holding rack of an H-configuration from sheet material.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing a drafting board T is shown having the rack Rin accordance with the present invention disposed near one cornerthereof, .with'pens andipencils P on the rack in posiin the course oftheir work and who desire to have these convenientlyat'hand-for'selection for utilization.

The rack R is preferably formedot sheet-ii'late rial which may be ofcardboard, plastic, metal or the like, which is stampedfrom a'la'rge'sheet S (Fig. 8). To make economic use of the -sheet material, the rackis formed of an H-configuration having vertical long. sides-'01 legs Hand I2 and an intermediate bridging member 9 extending from themid-portions ofsaid-sides and which serves as the base of the rack.Thereby only portion 39 in the sheet S may be considered as waste. Eachof the vertical legs H and i2; is shaped to form triangular prismatic orgable-shaped elements with apexes l3 and f4. Scored lines liia and th atthe junctions of the base I18 with sides H or :2 facilitate a bending;of the sides into a raised position so that the base may rest flatly ona support, while thereverse bending of the scored lines l3-and l4along-the longitudinal median of each of the long sidestransforms thelong sides into gable-shaped bodies having the apexes l3 and I l and.only their long. edges in contact with the support. A pluralityofnotches iii are cut into apex l3 along the prismatic element it whichare preferably diamond-shaped. Similar notches it are cut-in element i2into the apex i l in alignment with the notches .55.- As shown in Figs.Zand 8, the diamond-shapedepenings t5- extending along the sides 1 i andlE'have the short diagonals thereof coincide with the scoredlongitudinal median lines l3 and i-Z and the lcn diagonals of eachrespective pair of openings in sides fl. and t2 are in alignment. fhuswhen sides ii and 12ers bentalong' the scored lines 53 and M, V-shapednotches" are formed therein each providing for supporting edges for anend oi" the pencil, pen orother' instrument, providing a secure resttherefor and presenting improvement over the supports known heretoforehaving. notches'in a" single plane of sheet material. The baselflm'ay'be of the same length as the prismatic elements'and I havefofundtha't sufficient drag isaifordedby the base" IQ of lesser lengthin conjunction with the terminals .of' the prismatic elements I l and I2to retaintherack'in set position without undue freedom of movement. Thusa rack of H-c'o'nfigur'a'tion is preferred to utilize the sheetmaterial'with minimum waste. If desired, the base i6 may be providedwith apertures l8 for the purpose of se curing the rack to "the board bymeans of thumb tacks or the like. v

The base 10 lends itselfa-to the application of printed matter so that'the=device-may be used effectively as an advertising medium.Furthermore, additional refinements, such-as colored markings;individual to' the respective notches, be used to educatechild'ren'to-the proper and systematic use of coloring crayons' andhabits of orderliness:

As shown in 3, the'openings in 'the ends of the gable elements l 1provide gconvenientiengag ing spaces for the middle and little fingersof both hands in order to remove the rack and the instrumentalitiesthereon from place to place, or for convenient disposition thereof in adrawer while awaiting repeated use of the rack and the articlesthereonat some later time.

It is readily seen from an examination of Figs. 1 to 4, that a pluralityof racks of sheet material may be conveniently stacked one abovetheother in a-minimum amount ofspa'ce, even when the rack is formed ofinfiexible sheet material such as metal or plastic.

While the invention in its preferred form contemplates the-stamping ofthe complete rack from pen rack is attained when the triangularprismatic-e'lements are of solid material such as wood or plastic, whichmay be finished according to different colors, for example-accordingto'the color of a desk such as mahogany or walnut, This embodiment ofthe invention is shown in Figs. 5 6 and; 7, wherein the solid prismaticelements 2! and 22 are provided with aligned notches 25 and 2%,respectively, and are bridged by a base member 28 which is afiixed tothe prismatic elements 25 and 22 by means of screws 29. Aper-tures 23may be provided in the base 29 for the purpose of affixing the rack toasupporting surface, either permanently or temporarily.

Depressions or dimples 2 1 are provided in the ends of solid prismaticelements 2. and, 221m order to facilitate a secure holding oflth e rackbetween the fingers of both hands when it is desired to carry the rackwith the contents thereon from placeto place. i

From the above description, it is readily seen that the inventioncontemplates a simple rack which is capable of mass production at aninsignificant cost when the same is produced of cardboard, pressboard orthe like, and'the'c'ost of which may be varied by the utilizationofimore expensive materials such as plastics, metal or good, in order tocater to widely divergent mar-'- ets'.

While the advantages of my'invention don'ot depend upon any specificsize of the'rack, I have found one having the following dimensionsparticularly desirable: length of each side 7 and Width 2" to allot 1"to each side of the triangular prisms; with six notches displaced 1"apart; and the base between the prisms being 3" long and 2 wide betweenthe prisms.

WhileI have'describedrn'y invention as enibodied in a specific fornian'das operatingin a specific manner for purposes of illustratiofi, ,itshould be understood that 1 do not limit'my invention thereto, sincevarious'mod'ifications will suggest themselves to" those skilled in theart without departing from the spiritofmy' inveii tion, the scope ofwhich'is set forth in'the'an nexed claim.

I claim:

A blank of sheet material for forming a hold"- ing rack 'for pens,pencils or thelike having'an outline of the letter H' adapted to bestamped from a larger sheet iIl'WhiGh the blanks are interengaged andjuxtaposed, said'blank having opposed ion'g sides bridgedby a-basememberex' tending from the mid-portionsofsaid long sides at scored linesbetween said sides and said base member, a'plurality of diamond-shaped-openings extending along the-length of each-side' with the shortdiagonals of said openings--coinciding-"with the -scored" longitudinalmedia-n line of each longside and with the long diagonals of eachrespective pair of openings on said long sides being in alignment, sothat when said long sides are bent along their median lines to formgable-shaped bodies, v-shaped notches are formed therein to providesecure rests for elongated articles of all shapes, contours and sizeswhich are adapted to extend between said long sides, the scored linesalong the longitudinal medians of said long sides adapted to be bentreversely to the scored lines at the junctions of said base with saidsides so that said base may rest flatly on a support While said sides ofthe gable-shaped bodies have only their long edges in contact with thesupport.

JOSIAH SHEPARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 635,282 Adair Oct. 24, 18991,125,064 Connell Jan. 19, 1915 1,158,916 Goldsmith Nov. 2, 19151,370,525 Eisenkraft Mar. 8, 1921 1,616,047 Hoge Feb. 1, 1927 1,906,031Wilmarth Apr. 25, 1933 2,099,906 Reese et a1. Nov. 23, 1937 2,267,378Smelling Dec. 23, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 11,672 GreatBritain 1891

